Music of the Stars
by dinosoprano
Summary: Basically this is the same idea as Music Tells It Better except it's Doctor Who and not Harry Potter. SO if you like both fandoms and you like Music Tells It Better you're going to like this!
1. Untitled

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who. I so wish he was real. I wouldn't hesitate to travel with him. Enjoy this new story! This is Untitled by Simple Plan. **

_I open my eyes  
I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light  
I can't remember how  
I can't remember why  
I'm lyin' here tonight_

Rory blinked several times trying to get the bubbles out of his vision. Something wasn't right. He had been shot. He had been shot by a lizard woman trying to protect the Doctor. He had been underground in a dirty hole. What he was looking at looked like canvas. He sat up groggily. He wasn't sore. Didn't gunshot wounds normally hurt? He looked down at his stomach. He was wearing a white linen tunic and brown leggings. When had he changed? Had the Doctor and Amy picked him up and brought him into the TARDIS? Was he just in some strange alien hospital?

Then he thought back. No, the Doctor wouldn't have wasted his time taking Rory to a hospital. He remembered Amy screaming for him to hold on and then nothing. He remembered letting a breath out but being unable to take one in. He remembered his vision blurring until he saw nothing. He remembered his hearing fading until there was nothing but silence. He had died. He had died and ended up in a canvas tent wearing a tunic and leggings. How had this happened?

_And I can't stand the pain  
And I can't make it go away  
No I can't stand the pain_

Amy stared out at the Roman camp. She felt incredibly out of place. They kept looking at her like she was some strange alien or something. Well, not all of them she reasoned. The centurion that had saved her from the freaky cyber-thing had looked at her quite differently. He looked at her like she had hung the moon. It bothered her but why should it? She had never had a problem with boys fawning over her. Something painful was going on in her mind as though her memory were fighting to let her know why.

In fact, she'd felt this pain for quite some time now…ever since the Silurians had attacked. It was as if someone incredibly important was suddenly gone. She couldn't imagine who that was. Maybe the Doctor had lied about that ring. Perhaps he was planning on proposing to someone. It would have to be River…and she was missing…so maybe he was telling the truth. Perhaps the friend who supposedly had the ring was the one who was suddenly gone. But what did that have to do with her? And why did it make tears sting her eyes?

_How could this happen to me?_

Rory stared in disbelief as Amy climbed the stairs up to Stonehenge. He had accepted his death and random reincarnation into a Roman centurion but he never thought in a million years that Amelia Pond would ever forget him. He rounded on the Doctor.

"She doesn't remember me. How can she not remember me?" he demanded. The Doctor sighed.

"Because you never existed," he said quietly. Rory remained quiet. Never existed? Of course he had. He could remember most of his birthdays, school, Amy, Mels, his parents, the day Amy discovered he liked her thanks to Mels and her big mouth. It wasn't a dream and yet the Doctor was basically telling him it was. _Why is this happening to me _he thought.

_I've made my mistakes  
got nowhere to run_

A high pitched ringing wailed into the night. The Romans all around the couple fell and then revived into perfectly zoned out robots. Rory felt the signal pushing on something in his head. He cringed and tried to fight it off.

"No, no please no! I'm not going! I'm Rory!" he shouted. Amy stared at him in confusion…and was that recognition?

"Listen, you need to run. You need to get as far away from here as you can. I'm a thing! I'll kill you! Just go!"

Amy flinched but didn't leave. Rory couldn't tell if he was imagining it but she really did seem to recognize him now.

"No! Please no, I don't want to go!" Rory cried. "I'm Rory! I'm-"

"Williams. Rory Williams from Leadworth," Amy finished kneeling in front of him. "My boyfriend; how could I ever forget you?"

"Amy, you've got to run. I can't hold on, I'm going!" Rory said flinching out of her grip. She pulled him back.

"You are Rory Williams and you are never going anywhere again," she said with so much conviction Rory almost believed her. "The ring, remember the ring? You never let me wear it in case I lost it."

"The Doctor gave it to me," Rory said.

"Show it to me," Amy said. "Show me the ring."

Rory wasn't sure he could. It was becoming harder and harder to fight off whatever it was that was controlling him. He was feeling less and less human the longer he sat there.

"Come on, just show it to me," Amy encouraged. Rory slowly pulled the ring out, flinching and jerking as he did. He opened the box and showed her the ring. Amy looked and it then smiled at him.

"There it is, you remember. This is you and you are staying," Amy said still smiling. Rory felt his control lose. His arm was moving on its own accord, his fingers unhinging and he suddenly found himself speechless. He managed a half-strangled "No!" and then his fingers fired. Amy gasped. Rory repeated his "No" several times before Amy fell limp in his arms.

And there was no one to run to, no one to help.

_the night goes on  
as I'm fadin' away_

Amy wasn't sure what she was feeling. Rory had just shot her in the stomach, but to be fair, he had warned her. Was this how he felt when the Silurian had shot him? It must have, he had been gasping like this too. She felt her energy draining. She fell against Rory, unable to form any words, her body still in shock. She was dying and Rory would never forgive himself if she died. She had to hold on; she had only just found him again.

The night sky twinkled at her as she fell backwards, Rory still holding on to her. Was it just her imagination or were the stars blinking out? Probably not, she was dying, her vision was probably failing. She could feel her breathing becoming more and more labored. She could hear Rory's voice but her mind could no longer comprehend what he was saying. Then everything went black.

_I'm sick of this life  
I just wanna scream  
How could this happen to me?_

"No!" Rory screamed as Amy's eyes shut. She was still breathing but only just. He let out a scream of frustration and then another for good measure. He had just gotten her back; he couldn't lose her when everything was starting to look up again! His life was turning into one big joke. It was all the Doctor's fault. Why couldn't he have crashed in some other little girl's yard? Why did he have to ruin everything Rory had worked so hard for? He was so sick of being in the background. Amy and Mels had let him tag around for so long because they felt sorry for him. Amy wouldn't have even started dating him if Mels hadn't said something. She might have figured it out all on her own if that damned Doctor hadn't caught her fancy. All he wanted was a normal life and a normal wedding and for the Doctor to put everything right so he could have that.

Rory clutched Amy to his chest listening to her faint breathing. "Why me?" he whispered. __

Everybody's screamin'  
I try to make a sound but no one hears me 

The Doctor tried to fight his way out the Nestene Roman duplicates but they had some pretty darn tight grips. He looked around at all the aliens gathered around as the Nestene locked him in the Pandorica. The Daleks, the Cybermen, the Nestene, the Judoon, the Slitheen, and so much more, working together. It was more than he ever expected to see.

"Now you lot…working together…an alliance? How is that possible?"

Dalek Supreme replied "The cracks in the skin of the Universe."  
Then Commander Stark of the Sontarans stepped forward. "All of reality is threatened."  
"All universes will be deleted." The Cyber Leader said.

"What? And you... you've come to me for help?" the Doctor asked extremely confused.  
"No!" Commander Stark shouted. "We will save the Universe. From you!"  
"From me?" the Doctor asked completely baffled.  
"All projections correlate. All evidence concurs: The Doctor will destroy the Universe," the Cyber Leader explained.  
"No. No. No, you've got it wrong!" the Doctor attempted to correct.  
"The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the Alliance." The Cyber Leader continued.  
"A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion," Dalek Supreme added.  
"A trap The Doctor couldn't resist!" Commander Stark taunted.  
"The cracks in time are the work of The Doctor - it is confirmed!" Dalek Supreme shouted.  
"No, no, no, not me, the TARDIS, and I'm not in the TARDIS, am I?" the Doctor said trying to fix the mess he had unintentionally created. Why did this always happen?  
"Only The Doctor can pilot the TARDIS," Dalek Supreme said in contempt.  
"Please! Listen to me!" the Doctor shouted. Not that Daleks listened to him ever but he had to try something.  
"You will be prevented!" Dalek Supreme said raising his voice.  
"Total event collapse - every sun will supernova at every moment in history! The whole Universe will never have existed. _Please_ listen to me!" the Doctor pleaded. He was getting desperate. River was trapped in an exploding TARDIS. Rory may or may not be a threat to Amy and neither one of them would know how to save the universe. If he had to plead with some Daleks his pride could take the hit.  
"Seal the Pandorica," the Cyber Leader commended.  
"No! Please listen to me! The TARDIS is exploding right now and I'm the only one who can stop it!" the Doctor shouted as the Pandorica doors began to shut. "Listen to me!"  
_  
I'm slippin' off the edge  
I'm hangin' by a thread  
I wanna start this over again_

River hardly ever panicked. She'd spent too much time around the Doctor. She had never been stuck in an exploding TARDIS before and she really rather wished the Doctor hadn't abandoned his com. She could really use some advice…or at least hear his voice right about now. Wires crackled and popped around her as tried to pry the doors open. She could feel the panic and dread creeping over the edge as her shaky fingers put her tools together. She was barely holding herself together.

The control room was starting to get uncomfortably hot but the ship was exploding so she really wasn't surprised…just inconvenienced. In fact, the TARDIS exploding was the east of her worries. It was that voice. The one that had said "Silence will fall." She knew that voice and she had hoped never to hear it again. True, she had finished him off rather early but his voice still carried a lot of grief and pain with it.

And now somehow he had found a way to control the TARDIS. How? And why? If the Silence blew up the TARDIS it would kill them too. Most of the Order was self protecting. Unless…what if they knew the Doctor would be able to fix this somehow…reboot the universe? Start everything over again? And what if the only way he could do it was to die himself? Then they wouldn't need their little assassin. Then again…would that create a paradox?

The TARDIS jerked and River's thoughts were pulled to the present. She had to get out of there. She could worry about the Silence later. Right now she had bigger problems to solve. __

So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered  
And I can't explain what happened  
And I can't erase the things that I've done  
No I can't  


The Doctor sat in the Pandorica thinking. What else could he do, strapped down in a box with nothing to look at or touch or anything to keep him entertained. Had he really frightened all these aliens so much they thought locking him up was the safest way to go? What were they accomplishing? He just couldn't understand what had happened.

Maybe this was why his people stayed holed up on Gallifrey with their books. They knew too much and they knew it wasn't safe for them to travel the universe even if they had the best time machines the universe had ever seen. They knew better than him. No one they had him arrested. Maybe he was getting a little too nosy for his own good.

Unfortunately, he couldn't erase what he had done. The exploding TARDIS could but that was beside the point. Whatever he had done wherever he had gone were still points. This made them incredibly hard to change. Yet, some part of him was starting to wish he had never run away, never met Susan. Susan had made him want to see the universe so much more than any musty book. She had already seen so much by the time he met her. Now that curiosity and adventure had landed him in a big box with no way out.

__**A/N: So not what I was planning to do but I had just watched this episode and it fit so well I changed my mind. Read and review and enjoy!**


	2. Hero

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who. I so wish he was real. I wouldn't hesitate to travel with him. Enjoy this new story! This is Hero by Enrique Iglesias. **

_**Let me be your hero**_

_**Would you dance if I asked you to dance?**_

River looked around in awe. She had wanted to come here for ages. Sure she could have come on her own but it was so much better with him here. She smiled as she gazed at the humming towers around her. He slid his fingers between hers.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"Like it? I love it. It's everything I imagined it to be and more. Darillium is a beautiful planet," River replied giving his hand a squeeze. "Let's dance."

"I thought you didn't like my dancing," the Doctor said.

"I know you can dance," River said. "You just choose not to do it properly. Now dance with me."

River pulled him to a flat spot and placed her left hand on his shoulder and her right hand in his hand. His other hand rested on her hip. He chuckled once before leading her into a simple waltz.

"See?" she said. "You can dance properly."

"All you have to do is ask," the Doctor said spinning her.

_**Would you run and never look back?**_

"You've been awfully quiet the whole time we've been here. Not that it's a bad thing but you are never quiet. Is everything ok?" River asked as she and the Doctor walked through some of the smaller towers.

"Everything's fine," the Doctor said. "I'm just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" River asked.

"Running," the Doctor replied quietly.

"Running from what?" River asked sounding worried.

"Nothing in particular," the Doctor said. "Just thinking about all the times you asked me to run and I didn't. Of course, there were plenty of times where I ran and ran and tried not to look back but that never works."

"Like what, Lake Silencio?" River asked. The Doctor cracked a small smile.

"Actually, the first time I met you," the Doctor said. "You scared me so bad I hoped never to see you again but you kept popping up like some sort of nightmare."

River felt herself smile. "I scared you that bad, huh?"

"Well, you knew everything about me and you clearly loved me very much. At the time, I was still trying to get over someone else."

"Rose?" River asked.

"How…never mind, I probably said something and never noticed."

"No, the TARDIS told me. I can access all kinds of data from her."

"Of course," the Doctor grumbled.

"You still running?" River asked.

"Nah, I gave up," the Doctor said. "If I told you to run and never look back right at this moment, would you?"

"Run from you? No, I could never do that," River said.

"Even if it kills you?" the Doctor asked.

"You know I would die for you," River said. The Doctor didn't reply. She had no idea how right she was.

_**Would you cry if you saw me crying?**__**And would you save my soul tonight?**_

The couple was now lying on a blanket in a field listening to the low humming of the towers as the sun went down and the stars began to fill the sky. The Doctor had his hands behind his head as he stared up at the night sky. River was curled up beside him, her head and a hand resting on his chest. Her eyes closed a small smile on her lips. The Doctor glanced down at her. She looked so happy and carefree he could hardly believe that in a matter of hours she would be all but dead.

He had tried so hard to fight her off, to feel nothing. But as he had with Sarah Jane and Rose, he just couldn't fight his feelings. He didn't want to be lonely. He could finally say he wasn't the Last of the Time Lords even if she hadn't been born on Gallifrey. Of course by this time tomorrow he would be the last again but he didn't want to think of that.

Instead he thought about all the things he and River had done together. She had made him incredibly happy even through the tough times and the losses. She was able to empathize with him as none of his companions could. She was handy to have around in combat too even though he would never admit it out right. She was so much that he didn't know how he was going to let her go to The Library knowing what he did now.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" River asked sitting up. "Why are you crying?"

The Doctor sat up and ran his hand across his face. He hadn't even realized he was crying. He laughed as more tears fell.

"Come here," he said beckoning to her. River scooted up next to him and he threw his arms around her in a hug. River hugged him back awkwardly wondering what had gotten into him. His tears leaked into her hair but he didn't fight them off. He couldn't tell her what was wrong and he simply needed o hold her to know that she was real right here, right now.

River pulled away from him. She cupped his cheek and looked in his eyes.

"What is wrong?" she demanded softly. The Doctor bit his lip and just shook his head. Instead he rummaged in his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver.

"I want you to have this," he said in a thick voice wiping the tears away. River stared at his screwdriver.

"I can't take this from you," River said pushing it back toward him.

"Maybe I should rephrase that: River, I am giving this to you as a gift. I won't take no as answer," the Doctor said forcing it into her hand. River stared at it for a moment before looking at her tear-ridden husband.

"Why?" she asked. The Doctor shrugged.

"You get into a lot of trouble even when I'm not around. Who knows, maybe it will save you one day."

"A sonic screwdriver save me?" River asked skeptically.

"You never know, screwdrivers are very handy." The Doctor said.

"I don't know what to say," Rive said clutching the screwdriver.

"Usually people say thank you," the Doctor said with a smile. River rolled her eyes.

"Thank you," she said.

___**Would you tremble, if I touched your lips? Would you laugh? Oh please tell me this.**_

The TARDIS materialized outside River's house. The door opened and the couple stepped out into the warm spring night. The Doctor walked River up to her door as she fiddled with her new screwdriver. They stopped at the door both staring at the ground. Finally, River spoke up.

"Thank you," she said. "This was the best date we've ever been on. I'll never forget it."

"Me either," the Doctor said with an unmistakably sad smile. River chose to ignore it. His behavior tonight was starting to unnerve her and she didn't want to think about what that meant. She pulled her key out.

"Well, until we meet again," she said. The Doctor nodded and then leaned in kissing her on the lips. River wrapped her arms around his neck as his went around her waist. He kissed her hard which was very unlike him. They stayed like that for several moments until he pulled away. He smiled softly at her and she giggled.

"Wow Doctor, I didn't know you had that in you," she said.

"Me either," he said again laughing with her. She smiled and kissed him again.

"I love you," she said unlocking her door and stepping inside. She smiled and waved before closing the door. The Doctor smiled until the door shut. Then his smile slid off his face in an instant. That was it. He was never going to see her again after this. At least his final memory of her was that lovely smile of hers.

_**Now would you die, for the one you love?**_

"Mr. Lux can handle things on his own but you can't," River said before punching the Doctor. He crumpled to the floor in a heap. "Oh I'm so sorry, Sweetie," she said kneeling to caress his bruised face. She finished what he had been programming into the computer before picking up his lanky form and carrying him to the mainframe. CAL watched her set him facedown. She stuck her hand in one of her pockets and pulled out a pair of handcuffs she'd stolen from the police department in her youth and cuffed the Doctor to a pole far from the chair she would be downloading herself from. She couldn't risk him trying to stop her. She dug in his shirt pocket and pulled out his screwdriver. Couldn't risk him escaping either. She pulled her screwdriver, squareness gun and diary out of her other pocket. She set them just out of his reach and then proceeded to set up the chair so she could download herself into the computer.

Eighteen minutes later the Doctor stirred. River glanced down at him from her perched as she twisted some wires. He groaned and looked around groggily. He grew quite alret when he realized what she was doing.

"Oh no no! What are you doing?! That's my job!" he said pulling on the handcuffs as he tried to get up.

"Oh and I'm not allowed to have a career I suppose?" River teased not stopping her work. The Doctor ignored her last comment and looked at his wrist.

"Why am I handcuffed…why do you even have handcuffs?" he asked looking at her in confusion.

"Spoilers," River said raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"Stop it this isn't a game. This will kill you. I'd stand a chance-"

"You wouldn't stand a chance and neither do I," River cut him off sharply. "Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you-the real you, the _future_ you, I mean-you turned up on my doorstep with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium. To see the Singing Towers. Oh and what a night that was. The Towers sang and you cried. You wouldn't tell me why but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to go to The Library. You even gave me your screwdriver. That should have been a clue. There's nothing you can do."

River was crying now. She finally understood why the Doctor had been behaving so strangely at Darillium. No wonder he had stayed silent when she had told him she would die for him. From his perspective, she already had.

"You can let me do this," the current Doctor pleaded.

"If you die here it will mean I never met you!" River shouted.

"Time can be rewritten," the Doctor insisted. River could have laughed aloud. She had tried to use the same argument years ago when she thought he was going to die in Utah. She had to be firm with him though. He was still too young to understand.

"Not those times, not one line, don't you dare," she practically growled. She softened. "It's okay, it's okay, it's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all that to come. You and me. Time and space. You watch us run."

The Doctor looked devastated. He didn't even know her yet and he was taking her imminent death hard. She could only imagine what her Doctor was feeling. The one who knew her, who loved her. She had seen him after he lost her parents .This would be a hundred times worse. The countdown was nearing the end. River slipped the head piece on.

"River, you know my name," the Doctor tried one last time. "You whispered my name in my ear. There's only one way I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could."

"Hush now," River said unable to stop the flood of tears filling her eyes. "Spoilers," she whispered bringing the main wires together. She looked at the Doctor for the last time before he vanished in a bright white light.

_**Hold me in your arms, tonight**_

The Doctor sat on his bed in the room no one knew he had in the TARDIS. His face was tear-stained but dry. He must have cried every tear he had in his body. He had his head leaning on the wall and his back against his pillow. His breathing was stuttering from all the crying he'd been doing. Clutched against his chest in his arms was his blue diary.

It was all he had left of her. It was all he had left of any of his Ponds. His River. His Melody. He felt more tears build up. Apparently he still had some left. He had known this was coming. Why was he hurting so badly then? Tears trickled down his cheeks as his head fell forward in grief. He loved her…that's why it hurt. He loved just as he had loved her parents and Donna and Rose. He had cried for every one of them. His hearts ached for all of them.

More and more tears fell. He pulled his legs up to his chest pushing his diary further into his chest. He rolled onto his side and curled into a ball on his bed. He held the book and sobbed until he fell asleep, too exhausted and broken to stay awake, the last remnants of his wife held in his arms. _  
__**I can be your hero, baby.**_

The Doctor set the diary and screwdriver on the balcony where he and Donna had first looked out on The Library. Donna stood to the side still trying to decipher his emotions. He sighed.

"Come on, next chapter this way," he said turning away from the remains of one of the bravest people the Doctor had ever met. Donna slipped arm through his trying to offer what comfort she could in state of distress. They went up the stairs and walked in silence for a moment. The Doctor stopped suddenly in his tracks. Donna looked at him in concern. He said nothing, but the look on his face said everything. He was thinking. More than likely about Professor Song and her sacrifice. Then he bolted back the way they had come.

"Doctor?" Donna asked. "Doctor!" she called out running after him. She nearly ran into when she got back down the stairs.

"Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that?" he demanded turning Professor Song's screwdriver over and over in his hands.

"Why?" Donna asked.

"Because future me had years to think about it. All those years to think of a way to save her. And what he did was give her a screwdriver. Why would he do that?"

The Doctor turned it over again and slipped a piece off the front. "Oh! Look at that!"

Donna tried to see but he had it well blocked in his excitement.

"I'm very good!" he shouted excitedly. Donna was getting annoyed.

"What have you done?" she asked. He whipped around the biggest smile on his face she had seen since they got here.

"Saved her," he said showing her the neural relay set in the screwdriver. Before she could respond the Doctor had bolted back up the stairs. He sprinted down several hallways shouting for her to hold on.

"Stay with me! Come on! You and me one last run!"he shouted coming upon an anti-gravity platform. He pulled his own screwdriver out and pointed it at the platform. "Sorry River, shortcut!" Then he left into the anti-gravity platform he had turned gravity platform. He sent them down to the main computer where he left off the platform and bolted into the room she had died in leaping on the chair and plugging her screwdriver into the port initiating a download. He grinned at CAL who smiled back.

He had done it. He had saved her.

_**I can kiss away the pain. I will stand by you forever. You can take my breath away**_

River had been in the computer for a while now. At least, she thought it had been a while. It was hard to tell. The moment she decided to do something it happened. For all she knew she had only been here for a few seconds. A version of the Doctor from years and years ago was there with her. He knew her about as much as the one she met in The Library but he had his quirks that kept her visiting him. He liked her well enough too.

She had figured out that it was the version of him who had destroyed his planet. His eighth body. This version of him was so incredibly similar to his eleventh that she often forgot he didn't know her or anything about their adventures. He did however understand he had been pulled out of story by CAL to keep River company. He talked about his companion, Grace Holloway, quite a lot. River didn't mind. She hadn't heard much about Grace from him before.

In fact, his constant chatter kept her pain at bay. He was always so happy and bubbly that she often forgot to be sad. He smiled a lot because he claimed it was hard to be sad when you were smiling. River found this comforting. He even told her that because this world wasn't real, she never had to worry about him leaving her. He understood what it was like to be alone and he wouldn't have wished that on anyone, especially anyone who was going to "live" forever.

River had told him she appreciated it and in turn began to tell him how they met and the adventures they had gotten into. He was a very good audience, gasping in all the right places and such. He was surprised at how many Daleks seemed to have escaped his massacre. Then he cut in her stories with one of his own. River just shook her head with a smile and listened to his enthusiastic story.

_****__**Would you swear that you'll always be mine?**_

"Where are you taking me?" River asked playfully.

"I told you it's a surprise, River," the Doctor laughed his top hat slipping a little on his head. River giggled and fixed it into its proper place.

"Can't I just take a little peek?" she asked over his shoulder.

"No," he said shrugging her off and spinning the screen around to the other side.

"What can I get from you?" River pouted. There was pause as the Doctor thought about her question.

"A promise," the Doctor finally said. River quirked an eyebrow.

"What kind of promise?" she asked. The Doctor took his hands in hers.

"I know you worry about all these women I travel with but I want you to know that I have made up my mind. No matter how pretty or smart or whatever, I will always be yours and only yours."

River didn't know what to say. He never said anything like that before. He hated sharing feelings. He had yet to tell her he loved her.

"I…that was very sweet," River said at a loss for words. The Doctor kissed her cheek.

"I know," he said slipping around her and pushing buttons on the console. "I am good, aren't I?"

River rolled her but smiled anyway. Her Doctor would never change.

_**Or would you lie? Would you run and hide?**_

The Doctor set the TARDIS on the course for a resort. He and Donna needed a vacation after The Library. Then he made an excuse and hurried off to his room. He sat on the edge of his bed deep in thought.

"_How are you?"Donna asked. _

"_I'm alright," the Doctor replied. _

"_Is 'alright' Time Lord Code for 'really not alright'?" Donna asked. _

"_Why?" the Doctor asked looking at her._

"_Because I'm alright too," Donna said. _

Donna had been right of course. He wasn't alright. He was really _really_ not alright. He had lost something today that he didn't even know he had. He barely knew anything about her but what he did know scared him more than anything had ever scared him. She knew things, things he hadn't told anyone since he'd left Gallifrey. She knew things he hadn't even told fellow Time Lords while he lived on Gallifrey.

"You'll see me again" she had said but did he want to knowing what he knew? No, he didn't. He would rather run and hide anywhere than meet her one more time. He didn't know if he could keep himself from telling her even with Donna there. And clearly Donna wouldn't be there because River didn't recognize her. No, he would make sure he never saw River Song again.

_**Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind? I don't care you're here, tonight**_

For once, everything the Doctor had planned for an evening out with River had gone right. If only he could control his thoughts. He had decided years ago that he would avoid her at all costs. Then he had bumped into her on Asgard while Donna was shopping. He had been so surprised that he didn't say no when she offered a picnic. He could have slapped himself later. Then she literally collided with him when she leapt out of the Byzantium. If anything, that was when he realized he was excited to see her. She had revealed so much and so little on that occasion that he was thirsting to know more.

He might have been safe if he hadn't found out she was Amy and Rory's daughter. He loved the Ponds with all his hearts. He couldn't bear to keep them separated from their daughter no matter how terrified he was of her. It was just a matter of time after Berlin that he finally admitted that he had fallen for her. _Hard_. When he realized this he had to ask himself if he'd gone mad. He'd gotten in too deep with her and one day, _this_ day, he would regret it.

Yet he couldn't find the room to care. Yes, this would be the last time he saw his precious River and yes, it would break his hearts, but none of that mattered right now. Nothing mattered but the brilliant smile on her face as she twirled to the music of the Singing Towers. Nothing mattered except her touch when she pulled him in to dance…again. Nothing mattered but the fact that she was very real and very solid and very much with him right now. _  
_

_**I can be your hero**_****


End file.
